DeTomaso Mailing List: May 99, Message #9

John,

Forget about using stock-style fans in a sucker configuration.  The stock 
fans have motors the size of beer cans that will never fit behind the 
radiator.  Sucker fans are 'pancake' fans that use super-flat motors and are 
only an inch or two deep, max.

For my money, the BEST fan setup you can get is the Flex-A-Lite dual sucker 
fan, available from catalog outfits like Jegs, Summit, etc. for about $160 or 
so.  This is two fans housed in a plastic shroud that just by coincidence 
fits a Pantera radiator PERFECTLY.

A stock-style radiator can easily be converted to lay-down configuration.  
There are two mounting tabs at the top of the radiator that face forward.  If 
you simply have those removed and flipped around to face the rear, then the 
radiator can lean forward.  You'll also have to chop away the large water 
tubes (which exit the back of the radiator and make a violent 90 degree turn 
to mate up with the rubber hoses) and instead have straight tubes affixed to 
the back of the radiator, with rubber hoses to clear the back of the fans.

However, since you need a new radiator anyway, I'd simply advise getting one 
already configured that way.  Most vendors sell them.  You'll have to unbolt 
your stock fan mounts (no big deal), and figure out an elegant way to mount 
your fans to your new radiator (the sucker fan kit comes with pull-through 
plastic mounting deals that slip between the fins of the radiator and are 
virtually guaranteed to cause radiator leaks down the road--don't go there!)  
I'd suggest having a radiator shop fab up some metal mounting brackets, 
affixed to the sides of the radiator and lining up with the mounting holes in 
the shroud for the fans.

While you're at it, when your radiator is out, take a look at the two bottom 
mounting tabs on the chassis, where the two pegs on the bottom of the 
radiator fit.  Those should be tilted down somewhat for a stock configuration 
and even more so if you tilt the radiator, but for some dumb reason DeTomaso 
put them in perfectly flat (parallel to the ground.)  Your radiator will be 
much happier if you tweak those suckers to be parallel to the bottom of the 
radiator instead.  You may need to cut pie-shaped pieces from the sides of 
the mount, bend them down and re-weld them.  Doing so will lower the radiator 
in the car very slightly, perhaps just enough to give you adequate hood 
clearance (which I currently don't have!)

Mike